The other big thing that I have done this year is reading blogs. Mommy blogs. I have never, ever been a Mommy Blog reader. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I am really against reading books on parenting and even more against the whole air of superiority that women seem to have towards one another. I mean, aren't we all supposed to be working together here? And yet we bicker about whether nursing or bottle feeding is the One True Method, we snicker about those who spank, or those who don't, we call ourselves 'Baby Wearers' or 'SAHM moms' or 'working mothers', and we get really freaking inflexible about those who do it differently.

I didn't hang out in the bathroom in middle school for a reason.

I tried it with the Big Mom Bloggers, I really did, but I just never felt moved or inspired or driven to fits of laughter the way I heard I was supposed to be, and so I threw in the towel. I figured I was ok sticking with Andy and David and The Retropolitan and Stephen. I heart Andy and David and The Retropolitan and Stephen. They WERE my blogroll for a while. And then Beth and Chris went and had a baby, and then Diane and Darla found me. And then Molly started a blog. And then the Piglet was born. And you know what? I loved them, too.

At the behest of the Gawdfather, I put some ads on my blog. I went with Blogher because I wanted to give momblogs another try. I wanted to network it a bit and see if maybe, just maybe, I could find one or two that really spoke to me. I have made almost Zero Dollars American off those ads, and I really don't care. Because those ads, and the little linky goodness under them, opened a great big door for me. Behind that door were women, lots of them, and some dudes, too, all negotiating with people who don't speak English yet, all knee-deep in poop, and tired and unshowered. They are funny, clever, beautiful people, and the further in I go,the more doors open up.

I am cracked out of my skull on mommy blogs now.

I know a lot of people do a New Year's summation of their favorite posts they wrote last year, but I write utter crap and so, instead, I would like to share with you the new people I have met, the new friends I have made, the new writers I am stalking like John Warnock Hinckley, Jr. to Jodie Foster.

There's Secret Agent Mama. She posts a lot. An intimidating lot. I saw her here or there, and clicked on links to her just because her name is cool, and I loved her design. I came back a few times just to look at her template. I cannot recall what made me stop one day and just read. I just now sifted through her archives and I can't figure it out, because, well, she's good. It all stands out in my mind. And then one social networking thing after another happened, and then one day we realised we were lurking in the same groups, and literally THE NEXT THING I KNOW we are totally blog BFF's. We text and IM and stalk and lurk and threaten makeout sessions and I feel like I have known her my whole life. She is beautiful and so wonderful and down-to-earth and captivating that I can't believe she's real sometimes. If nothing else happened in 2007, I made a new friend name Mishele, and I am keeping her.

And then there's Loralee. I have been peeking in her windows for quite some time now. She's really funny and interesting and I never was let down. I didn't go dive into her archives or her Bio's or anything, but she definitely was my occasional guilty pleasure. And then one day I read this. And then, a little later, I read this. I couldn't tell you how I totally missed the fact that she lost an infant not too long ago, but maybe that's why I like her. She's just real, and real people get hit hard with stuff one day, and the next day it's back to the silly memes. She is truly a diamond in the seriously, unimaginably sort of rough.

See this supermodel looking chick? Yeah, that's OhMommy, and I crack her the fuck up. Why? The world may never know, but my guess is she could do with a little more OhMommy time *wink* Good lordy, I like this lady. You know why? Because she, like me, takes the picture BEFORE helping the child. She can wait to unpack. I bet you she's, eh, this much disorganized. But she's A Barrel of Monkeys When You're All Drunk fun, and not too heavy, and not too light. She has fabulous stories of using her superhuman powers of strength and destruction to defeat her foes and win beauty pageants immigrating to America as a child. She is lovely and perky and goodness, me, do I ever swoon.

There's Aimee. I signed up for the NaBloOhYouKnow thing, that I totally rocked BTW, and though I am really bad about using those sites to find new stuff to read, Aimee isn't. She sent me a little friend request because she liked my avatar. Um, she's totally my old next door neighbor. I knew her before she was a mom, before she had a blog. Clearly, I didn't know her well enough. That girl Rocks My Socks. She is goddamn hilarious and takes beautiful pictures and is thoughtful and wise. I am so very happy she likes my feet, or I would have never known I lived 10 feet from such greatness.

Oh, dear Lord in Heaven, thank you for Anne Nahm, and please spare her from your wrath when it comes to judgement day. Now, I don't have the world's strongest bladder anymore (27 months of using anything as a trampoline tends to void the warranty) but I haven't reached Poise Pads yet or anything. Well, until I found Anne, that is. I am serious, and I don't care how gross it is, I peed my pants one day reading her blog, these posts in particular. Just go see. You'll thank me later.

Speaking of Poise Pads, there is Judith Shakespeare. Honestly, I saw her picture over at Cre8Buzz, and I thought she was hot, and so I started reading her stuff. I am a 12 year old boy. When she's not busy cracking me up, or looking hot, or wearing really cool shoes, she's slowly re-skinning the internetowebosphere. In fact, you will soon see her hand at work around my humble little shanty of a blog. And she says motherfucking. That's really I all ever needed to know.

Kelly. Oh, Kelly. I lurked around Kelly's site for a while and then I read this. My sisterish is knee-deep in an adoption right now, and Kelly's posts on her experience are so honest and from the heart and she finds a way to express those fears about adoption that I imagine many people have as they go through it. If I ever meet someone who is against adoption, I am totally sicking Kelly on them. She has this shit down. And somewhere out there, she has posted a picture of her booty. Girl's got balls, which I adore.

There is Veronica, and the thing that I love about her is this...you know, when you're reading around, books, blogs, whatever, and you get a picture of what the person looks like, who they are? Yeah, I read Veronica and I picture someone about my age, someone who is certainly not a 19 year old mum. Veronica is a 19 year old mum. Go read something of hers; you'll never believe it. She is eloquent and honest and way the fuck more mature than I was at 19. Or am now. She is a breath of fresh air.

There is LatteMommy, and I love her because she is me (well, me with a college education and a PhD and the ability to write and a much higher caffeine tolerance.) I can't peg it more than that. She just is who she is and she's terribly hilarious and off-the-cuff and damn that girl knows how to order a coffee. I am thrilled beyond happy that she is GOING TO DO Blog 365. You're going to do it.

There is Huckdoll, and again, I have no idea how I found her. And again, I totally thought she was hot. At least I'm consistent. Um, dudes, she is fabulous. Something about the way she writes made me think that maybe I stood a chance with this chick and so I asked her out. We asked each other out. We went out. I am in love. She's a momma to twin girls and if I was a momma to twin girls I would be bald and filthy with one googly-eye. She is not. She's got this mom-gig down. And she's totally the real deal. Hearts.

Dan is the only daddio I'm giving a shout-out to during Estrogen Fest YK28, and that is just because I really, really adore him. He's a dad, an atheist, a blogger, and not at all afraid to play with the girls. Maybe he's just a perv, I don't know, but I am freshly beginning a love affair with the Cafe Leone. I encourage you to join me.

And last but not least is Rilah. I'm going to be totally upfront and tell you that I have not given Rilah's blog nearly the time it deserves, and that is only because she is my newest find. I'm slow. What I love about her is our late night email exchanges. We seem to run on the same schedule. She is kind and thoughtful and easy and really trying to be the best single mom ever. She ought not try so hard; she's doing a fucking fantastic job already.

There are so many more great, wonderful mommy bloggers, like Piper and Emory and Kim and Rachal and SuchSimplePleasures (um, what's your real name already?) and Lisa and The Mommy (same question, sister) and MomoFali that have forced me to neglect my hously duties and who are all equally to blame for the diaper rash on my baby's butt. I am missing too many people here, but kids? I'm blonde. I forget regularly how to spell my own name. I heart you all. I just can't look at HTML anymore today.

So, for the wrap up of the year, I am thankful that in 2007 I found a community of mothers. I would be more thankful if they all put themselves in FedEx boxes and showed up in the mailbox next week, but I get to spend every day with them anyway. It's a wonderful thing, the village. And finally, after years of searching, I found somewhere that I can be the idiot.

I was lucky enough to receive a few virtual makeouts over the past few months,(From Rachal)

(From Veronica)

(From Huckdoll)

and I have been holding on to them until I knew what to do with them. I'm not exactly the blingiest type of girl. Today, I am paying them forward to all of you moms. Thank you for sharing your stories and your lives. Here's to 2008!